Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur has urged Ghanaian women to be self-empowered in order to end the violence meted out to them by their male counterparts.

Nana Oye Lithur, speaking in an interview with Radio Gold, called on women in the nation to build their “economic prowess” and ensure a better living for themselves.

She implored them not to over-rely on their husbands to cater for them.

Touching on abuse cases filed at the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit, Hon. Oye Lithur bemoaned the culture where victims of physical assault, particularly women, file complaints against their assailants and yet return to the Unit to stop investigations into the incidents. According to her, such attitudes threaten the safety of women in the nation.

Nana Oye Lithur therefore advised Ghanaian women to be career women so as to promote gender equality in the country.

“When the woman has a job, when she can create wealth; she can look after herself. She can buy her own food and cater for the family. She stands in a better position to access herself and ensure that Gender-based violence is not meted out to her. When the woman is unemployed, she cannot earn money. She’s not doing any trading, then when her boyfriend or husband beats her up, she doesn’t really have a choice than to stay in that abusive marriage,” she said.